If You're Going to San Francesco...

Hello!

My dad likes to say that he walked to school uphill both ways (original, right?).  I walked uphill on Friday.  I walked uphill all day on Friday.  The Italians love to put places worth seeing on top of huge hills.

 

Yesterday (Friday), Gemma, another friend Danielle, and I took an early train--and I do mean early--to Assisi, which is about two and a half hours northeast of Roma.  We arrived around 10:30 and started our trek into the town as the train doesn't run up the plateau.  We were blessed with beautiful weather again; it was sunny and in the low sixties. 

The quasi-mountain we faced.  Daunting, no?

We decided to see the Basilica di San Francesco (St. Francis of Assisi) first.  For some reason, there is a lower basilica and an upper basilica.  The lower basilica is far darker and ornate than the upper, which has higher ceilings, brighter colors, and frescoes.  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside of course, but I got to see the tomb of San Francesco and things like his robe, his cord, and the vessels he used for communion.  Here are some pictures of the outside:

La Basilica di San Francesco and the Umbrian countryside.

The view from a different area of Assisi.

A bit closer.

After we toured the basilica, we wandered around Assisi and looked for the restaurant that had been recommended by the guidebook.  We had no knowledge of the layout of the streets, so Gemma walked up to a short, hefty nun and politely asked in Italian where the street was.  The nun looked at her, shrugged, and in a deep voice said, "Deutsche."  Apparently we weren't the only tourists there.  

Eventually, we wandered into a shop that was stuffed with rosaries and painted ceramic bowls, and again, Gemma asked the woman working where the restaurant was.  The woman told us she knew where it was, but the food wasn't good and it was expensive, and sent us to a different place.  She told us to tell the staff Fulvia sent us and they would give us more food.  So we did.  I had pasta with a tomato sauce and chickpeas.  It was delicious.

Lunch.

 After lunch we headed over to Chiesa de San Chiara (Church of Saint Clare), who was inspired by St. Francis and started her own order.  There were also cool things in her church; a robe she hand stitched, San Francesco's other robe, the grate through which she took communion, a stocking Francesco used to cover his stigmata, and some locks of hair.  The last thing was really gross.  Being Lutheran and not Catholic, the relics didn't have the same weight to them, but as a history/religion double major, it was really cool.

The view from the piazza outside of La Chiesa di San Chiara was a pretty nice one. Don't you agree?

There was also this unique nativity scene.

He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

La chiesa (the church).

The Italians are so fond of St. Clare they wrote a musical about her.

Maybe I should write a musical about Luther?

A few more random treats from the day included:

He is correct-I wouldn't have wanted to walk back up.

Who is his marketing person?  He/she deserves a raise!

We stumbled across "The Chapel of Mary over Minerva." So take that Roman goddesses.

I had never seen Mary holding a crucified Jesus quite like this before.

A dove!  How appropriate! You don't want to know how long we stalked it.

 We also found the church that Gemma sang at when she was nine; she was delighted.  Originally, we had considered spending a night in Assisi, but a day trip was the perfect amount of time.  Next week I have my Italian midterm and then we get Thursday off of school for the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy--I am so excited to be here for the celebration!

Miss you!